June 11, 2019
6:01 am
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Finding the right ecommerce platform for your business can seem like a daunting task, especially when all of them seem to offer the same features.
Shopify is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms on the market and Wix, while traditionally seen as a website builder also offers ecommerce functionality. So, can you get the best of both worlds with Wix? Or is it better to go with the ecommerce specialists?
Put simply, we’d say Shopify is the better ecommerce builder for large sites with complex needs and multiple sales channels. If you’re creating a large-scale online store, Shopify is the way to go. But, we’d recommend you choose Wix for creating a smaller online store. It’s better value and simple to use for small businesses, plus has some amazing online store templates.
Read on as we explain the merits and drawbacks of each of these ecommerce platforms.
In this Guide:
- Wix Summary – Excels at website building, but lacks advanced sales features compared to Shopify
- Shopify Summary – Simple to use and backed by a market-leading range of sales features
- Shopify Supports More Sales Channels – With Shopify, you’ll be able to integrate social media sites, Amazon, eBay and more
- Shopify Has Better Product Inventory – You can upload products in bulk, manage stock levels easily, and analyze customer engagement
- Wix Gives You More Creative Control – It has better website templates and loads of customization through the drag-and-drop editor
- They Both Have Large App Stores – Both of the platforms have lots of third-party apps which can help add features to your site
- Shopify Has Better Accounting Tools – With a convenient invoice generator and tax exemptions, Wix makes accounting easy
- Wix vs Shopify Pricing Comparison – Wix has cheaper plans, but Shopify offers better ecommerce features
- Verdict – Shopify is the better overall ecommerce platform, but don’t write off Wix
Wix vs Shopify: Head-to-Head
While Wix is traditionally thought of as a website builder rather than an ecommerce platform, it nonetheless performed decently well in our range of tests. It excelled in our ratings for design, functionality, and value for money.
Shopify, on the other hand, scores strongly across the board, especially in the sales features and ease of use categories.
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We’ve put both Wix and Shopify through our thorough testing process to make our recommendations. Based on assessments of its features, plus hands-on user testing, we’ve found that Shopify is the superior advanced ecommerce platform.
In fact, it’s fair to say Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder on the market. Shopify has more in-depth sales features than Wix, especially when it comes to accounting and shipping. It also allows you to sell across more sales channels and has a level of depth as an ecommerce platform that Wix simply can’t match.
But, if you’re creating a smaller store, Wix may still have everything you need. Thanks to its amazing templates and intuitive system, even a non-expert can create a professional-looking site with ease using Wix. The Wix platform gives you a brilliant helping hand right from the word go, drafting up a dummy-online store that will look good enough to publish, even before you adjust it with your own imagery, text and product database – all of which can be done with ease via Wix.
Let’s take a closer look at the merits of both Wix and Shopify, below:
The perfect website builder for smaller online stores
Wix is best known as a website builder. However, Wix is also a capable ecommerce platform and is constantly improving its ecommerce and online store functionalities.
Wix is probably best suited to small, boutique online stores. When it comes to website design, Wix is really a class apart. It has loads of design features and allows for in-depth visual customization thanks to its straightforward what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor.
Wix has also recently developed tools for improved product management and marketing promotion tools. However, Wix can struggle with larger ecommerce operations, with no dedicated accounting tools. Wix also doesn’t offer any built-in support for bricks-and-mortar stores.
Want to know more? Read our full Wix review
The best ecommerce website builder for large online stores
Shopify is the best ecommerce platform on the market. It has an unmatched set of sales and reporting features, including support for sales in bricks-and-mortar stores.
Shopify might not have the same level of design customization as Wix, but Shopify still gives you professional-looking websites designed specifically as online stores. This means you van focus on the job of selling products and making money, rather than fine-tweaking visual elements.
It’s perfect for any ecommerce businesses operating at scale. You can use Shopify to track sales across loads of different sales channels — from social media sites to third-party markets such as Amazon and eBay. What’s more, Shopify’s powerful analytics and reporting tools make it easy to digest and understand all this sales information.
Shopify excelled across the board in our testing. It combines top class sales channel integration with a simple and intuitive UI, plus great reporting tools to help optimize your sales. Through its Shopify Payments system, you’re able to track everything from sales on Instagram through to Google Shopping, and even real-world point of sale transactions.
Want to know more? Read our full Shopify review
Shopify Supports More Sales Channels
Shopify lets you sell your products and services through loads of different sales channels. For example, you can sell through social media sites such as Instagram or Facebook, or global ecommerce sites such as eBay or Amazon.
All the sales information from the channels is managed by Shopify, meaning that you can keep track of stock levels, and analyze the sales performance on these different channels. Wix, on the other hand, only allows you to sell products through its online store templates.
Shopify Has Better Product Inventory
Shopify makes it super easy to add to and manage the products you sell. For a start, you’re able to add new products in bulk, rather than one-by-one. This is helpful if you’ve got a new line of similar products, for example.
Shopify also has excellent product management features which make it easy to track and amend stock levels, as well as analyze the way customers interact with your products when they come to purchase them.
What’s more, many of Shopify’s built-in inventory features are only available for Wix through third-party apps, which can vary in quality.
Wix Gives You More Creative Control
It should come as no surprise that Wix offers fantastic control over the design and style of your online storefront. It is, after all, a website builder first-and-foremost.
Wix offers 71 ecommerce specific website templates across a range of industries. In our user testing, all these templates scored highly for ease of use and design quality. You also have free rein to edit these templates with Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
While Shopify does offer a number of strong templates, it can’t match the overall quality and scope of Wix’s.
They Both Have Large App Stores
Both Shopify and Wix have extensive app stores which let you augment the features available on both your online store and ecommerce platform.
However, it should be noted that most of Wix’s apps relate to the design aspects of your site, whereas Shopify’s will give you more complex sales features. One exception, though, is the Online Store app by Ecwid, which will give your Wix website the features to become a true ecommerce platform.
Shopify Has Better Accounting Tools
Again, when it comes to the detail of ecommerce, Shopify wins out again. Its built-in invoice generator makes it super-easy to create invoices, but allows you the option to change and customize them without restraint.
Similarly, Shopify will automatically calculate the tax rates on your products. However, these automatic tax rates can be changed and customized, so you can ensure any quirks – such as state tax exemptions in the US, or VAT exempt items in Britain – don’t fall through the cracks. Any changes you make are applied to your online sales and any sales made with Shopify POS. If that’s not enough, Shopify also has a wide range of accounting apps available for installation.
Wix vs Shopify Pricing Comparison
On paper, Wix appears to be the better value option, with pricing plans starting from as little as $5 per month. However, we’re interested in Wix’s business plans, which start from a $20 per month basic package, and grant you access to Wix’s online store functions, as well as commission free sales.
The top two Wix business plans offer precious little in extra ecommerce functionality. Instead, most of the new tools focus around increasing the number of visitors to your site, rather than improving your accounting, for example.
Shopify, on the other hand, appears to be in a completely different league to Wix when it comes to pricing. Its plans start at $29 per month with Basic Shopify, while the Advanced Shopify plan costs $299 per month.
However, compared to Wix, you certainly get much more for your money with ecommerce features. For example, you’ll get access to the Shopify POS, which supports real-world selling, a range of customizable shipping rates, and even better reporting tools.
| Wix Business Basic | Wix Business Unlimited | Wix Business VIP | Shopify Basic | Shopify | Shopify Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost (paid monthly) | $20 | $25 | $35 | $29 | $79 | $299 |
| Cost (paid annually) | N/A | N/A | N/A | $312 | $852 | $3,192 |
| Domain included | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Staff accounts | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Abandoned cart recovery | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Gift cards | Via third-party app | Via third-party app | Via third-party app | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Online credit card rates | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 2.2% + 30c | 1.9% + 30c | 1.6% + 30c |
| In-person credit card rates | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Point-of-sale support | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Hardware peripheral support | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ |
The Verdict – Shopify for Big Online Stores, Wix for Small
Shopify is undoubtedly the better ecommerce platform. Wix can only really best Shopify when it comes to the design stakes, thanks to its range of great templates with loads of customization options. That makes Wix ideal for small businesses and anyone looking to build their own site – Wix’s fantastic templates will give you amazingly professional results.
When it comes to the actual process and detail of running a more complex ecommerce website, Shopify wins hands down. It has more powerful sales features, fantastic accounting and reporting tools, and can even let you sell products in a bricks-and-mortar store.
Some of the links on our page will take you directly to a provider or retail website, where you may find deals and discounts. If you make a purchase at this stage, we may receive a payment. This has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews.
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Tom Fogden
Tom Fogden is a writer for Tech.co with a range of experience in the world of tech publishing. Tom covers everything from cybersecurity, to social media and website builders when he's not reviewing the latest phones, gadgets, or occasionally even technology books.